Thursday, January 26, 2017

When
it comes to being entertained in a home theater, audio seems to always be
standing behind video: it's the TV picture, never the sound that gets touted.
But having a really great home theater means that the audio is also dynamic and
just as high in resolution as the picture is. And while a big screen TV also has stereo speakers built-in, the quality of the
audio can be improved immensely by having separate audio components providing
the sound. So what are the choices?

Sound
Bar

A sound bar is a self-contained audio device that contains audio
speakers (more colloquial described as "drivers") as well as an
digital amplifier to take the audio from the TV and "send" it to the speakers. The sound bar doesn't require lots of cables to be properly
attached, and more often than not includes "smart features" that go
beyond providing a simple menu, like Bluetooth audio streaming capabilities and
apps for playing music and videos from off the Internet. The size of the sound
bar can vary, as can its ability to provide stereo sound or surround sound. And
the sound bar can even be curved to match your curved TV. Most
sound bars will include a subwoofer to provide for bass to enhance the overall
sound -- in many cases the subwoofer is wireless and so eliminates a connection and just
needs to be placed in a corner and plugged into a wall outlet for power. There
is also the advantage in that, if the TV is wall mounted, the sound bar can be wall mounted below the TV also.

Surround
Sound Audio System

The
traditional way to have a surround sound system is by placing a set of speakers
throughout the area where the home theater is located. This consists, in
general, of front left and right speakers for stereo, a center channel for
dialogue, left and right speakers to the side or behind the listeners for
surround effects and a subwoofer to handle the bass. In almost all cases the speakers
must be physically wired to the AV Receiver (i..e, the amplifier) which typically is placed in
front of the listener, often in a cabinet on which the TV stands. The AV Receiver is able to handle the chores of
being a video switcher as well as a full throated audio device for controlling
the audio streams -- giving much more personalized control (and greater volume
and clarity in most cases) for the listener. Features also abound in the AV Receiver -- automated
matching of the various speakers to one another being just one of the many.

Personal
Listening

For
those who wish to listen in private, headphones become the "audio
system" for the home theater. Headphones can be personalized in many ways but only when
bought: you can get over the ear headphones or on the ear, headphones using moderate or large audio "drivers" and
a variety of features that affect their placement and comfort level. In
addition, while running a physical connection from the AV Receiver to the
headphones is possible, being able to wirelessly connect a headphones is
possible as well using either a wireless device that attaches to the headphones
or having this wireless capability built in. Additionally many AV Receivers will have special audio systems built in to take
advantage of the pros and cons of a headphone so as to provide the best sound
to it (with multichannel surround sound capabilities existing as well).

Having great sound in
your home theater shouldn't be a hope but something
realized. Making an educated decision as to how to have the sound delivered
will guarantee that what you are hearing will be just as exciting as what you
are watching.